Guided Reading can be very overwhelming! Knowing what to teach and what your students are expected to do at different levels is a daunting process. I’ve tried to help streamline guided reading with The Ultimate Guided Reading Toolkit!
Save Time!
Planning for Guided Reading can save you so much TIME! Time is precious, and now that I have this kit prepared and ready to go it takes me only about 10-15 minutes to plan and prepare for 5 different guided reading groups.
Here is a picture of the toolkit all set-up and ready to go! This is the Level A-N kit!
Here are Levels O-Z! The A-Z kit contains both of these kits in one!
Stay Organized!
I made this kit so that everything is ready at your fingertips! There are over 180 activities directly related to Word Work, Reading Strategies, and Comprehension in the entire A-Z kit. Each of these three skills are color-coded for easy access. The activity cards for the Word Work are red, Reading Strategies are blue, and Comprehension are yellow. On each activity card, the suggested appropriate activity levels are at the top. Each activity also provides a learning goal, materials needed for the activity, teacher directions, and student directions.
When I do my planning, I use my Guided Reading Binder and my Guided Reading Lesson Plans. Each group has its own section in the binder. I use velcro on the group page so that I can easily move kids around throughout the school year as their guided reading levels change.
Behind my groups is where I keep my Guided Reading Lesson Plans Levels A-Z. These plans help me know what skills I need to teach at each level. These plans correlate directly to The Ultimate Guided Reading Toolkit and can be found at a BUNDLED price.
Planning Groups:
I choose a book for my group that is at their Instructional Reading Level (90-94% accuracy for levels A-Z). In this sample, my group is reading the book Skateboarding. This is a Level G book.
Here is a picture of the lesson plan that I used for this book. The planning sheet lays out the skills that should be worked on at specific levels. Each planning page has Word Work Skills, Before Reading, During Reading (Strategies), and Comprehension.
At the top, there is a place for the name of the book, students names, and the date. Notice this is for Guided Reading Level G.
Word Work:
The top of the plan gives Word Work ideas for each level. When I plan, I look and see what skills each group needs to work on. Many times, I quickly plan immediately after I meet with a group because it is fresh in my head what they need to work on.
For this group, we did a quick reading of our sight words that we were working on this week. Next, we did an activity with blends. In the toolkit, I found the activities for blends and had it ready for the lesson. Here the students had to say the name of the picture and put the clothespin on the correct blend.
The activities in this pack are meant to be quick and only take 3-5 minutes. I really try to limit each group to a 20-minute lesson.
We talked about blends and I ended up giving each student 4 different cards to figure out. They were BEGGING for more- but we had to move on.
Next, we took a picture walk together using the book. I made a point of saying the names of the children in the book a few times (Robert and Luke). These names are always tricky for a couple of students.
After the picture walk and brief discussion, the students were off to read ON THEIR OWN. The single most important part of an effective guided reading (in my opinion), is that each student is reading the entire book. We don’t do round-robin reading in guided reading. I teach students right from the beginning how to read with a whisper voice. I listen in on each student as they are reading. I also really encourage them to ask for help if they are absolutely stuck.
After reading the book, I had the Fiction Spin the Wheel ready to go!
I let each student spin one time and we answer the questions on the wheel. Again, begging for more!
After we have read and discussed the new book, I collect them until the next time we get together. I do try (if I can), to plan for the next group immediately after meeting with them. With this toolkit, it literally takes me a couple of minutes. I grab the items that I want to teach, mark them on the lesson planning sheet and put them into my basket where I keep all of the materials that I will need for each lesson.
Five groups and all of the activity cards and activities that I need- all in one spot. When we finish the activity I file it back into the Guided Reading Toolkit.
If you LOVE what you see- here are your options for making your Guided Reading time as productive as it could possibly be!
Pin for Later!!
The Ultimate Guided Reading Toolkit A-N
The Ultimate Guided Reading Toolkit A-Z
The Ultimate Guided Reading Toolkit O-Z
Thanks for stopping by!
7 Comments
This is fantastic. What guided reading series to you use for your groups?
Eileenb3434@gmail.com
Thanks
We have a reading series that is about 12 years old in my building. I don't really use it much at all. I use several different Guided Reading Books. I wrote a grant a few years ago and was able to buy $3000 worth of books for my classroom. I couple of my favorites are Pioneer Valley Educational Press and I use the "homework" books from Fountas and Pinnell's Leveled Literacy Intervention. They are black and white but the text is WONDERFUL in them. They also only end up costing about 25 cents each.
I loved reading your post! Quick question: Do you recommend your Guided Reading Tool Kit for 4th graders?? Thanks for a very informational post. =)
tinysmiles34@gmail.com
The toolkit is currently for Levels A-I (K-1) so it would not be appropriate for grade 4. The ideas of planning can be used at any level. Thanks!
Jennie
Can you share some of the ways you store and organize your tools. I am bought and love your product, but I need some help keeping it all organized. 🙂 Thank you! Your product rocks.
Looks awesome!! How did you determine the levels? Are they based on Fountas and Pinnell or what? Also, alignment to common core?
Hi Kim,
It is based on Fountas and Pinnell reading levels. It is not directly related to common core, however, the skills that are in the toolkit are typically common core skills.
Jennie